Round is a Shape

Round is a Shape

As someone who (sort of) formerly worked in the exercise industry, I’m always curious about new exercise programs that come out. When I was doing my student teaching many moons ago, everyone was talking about P90X and how amazing it was. I was skeptical partially because I was way more fit than any of my fellow PE colleagues who professed love for the program and partially because I don’t trust things that are sold on infomercials. I kind of forgot about P90X for awhile since I was pregnant and then recovering, but when it resurfaced in my brain I put a hold on it at our library.  At the time I was in line behind like 142 other people that put holds on it. (Come to think of it, it might have been January when everyone was all gung-ho about getting in shape. ) Well, the hold finally came in last week. Even though I’m not aiming to have any sort of beach body anytime soon (unless you count beach ball body), I still wanted to get a feel for the program.

The purist in me hated how gimmicky the program was. The instructor is constantly pushing the company’s products (energy bars, muscle building drinks, and special exercise equipment). Also, the instructor is annoying and cocky. However, the workouts themselves are actually pretty good though. P90X wins points for length of workout and intensity.  The DVDs also had some nice features like having the option to turn off the instructor’s commentary and having a countdown timer at the bottom of the screen during each workout. While P90X focuses more on strength than my cardio-loving-soul would prefer, I definitely took some notes on exercises I would like to pull into future routines.

Speaking of future workouts. Do you remember how I was coveting Chariots when I was pregnant with Cooper? Well, since we’re going to need a double jogger in a few months, I’ve been on the prowl. I’ve been obsessively checking ads on craigslist and even Utah’s KSL (in case there was a steal of a deal my parents could pick up for us), but everyone wanted way too much money for their used strollers. We almost bought a new one during REI’s Labor Day sale, but decided that even at 20% off  it was fiscally irresponsible. I’ve never been so grateful for self-control in my life because the very next weekend a family from church told us their boys had just outgrown their Chariot and they would sell us theirs at a super discounted price. You seriously can’t buy Chariot kits for the price we paid for this beauty. Cooper loves it and is always climbing inside and begging us to take him somewhere. Hopefully he’ll adjust to sharing it 🙂

 

3 thoughts on “Round is a Shape

  1. Brady bought P90X awhile ago, but I haven’t gotten too into it yet. I did the Lisa Hart workouts/yoga while I was pregnant (not too intense, but a nice work out when you are round 🙂 and I have The Firm work dvds–very cheesy (they look like they are filmed in a library/museum with art sculptures and oriental rugs) but they are a good balance of intensity. Way to go on the jogger. We watched the classifieds too, and finally just got one at Costco for cheaper than most of the used ones were selling.

  2. I discovered P90X a couple months ago when someone lent it to me, and lets just say I’m sold. Yeah, the instructor is pushes products and is a bit cocky, but that seems to be pretty standard as far as exercise DVD’s go. In Tony Horton’s case, it made me laugh more than it irritated me. Hey, I’d probably be cockier if I could do curls with 50lb weights. Every day I do a P90X workout followed by a 30min Bosu workout for my cardio. I’m definitely a fan of both. By the way, P90X 2 is available for preorder, so it’ll be interesting to read the reviews and see how it compares to the original P90X.

    P.S. Congrats on the Chariot. I’m glad you were able to get one. I’ve wanted one for awhile, and then I was given a really old double bike trailer. It had been outside too long, so the fabric seat was rotted out. I tore out the old seat, spent a few dollars on fabric and belts, and made a new seat. The kids and I like it, and it’s a pretty good workout.

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